visiting california - big sur


it took about two hours to drive from san francisco to big sur, where we were planning to camp out for the night.

we got there after dark, so we had to set up the tents under the headlights of the cars.

i hadn't slept in a tent for probably 15 years, so i had a blast even though i didn't have a pillow or a sleeping mat.

the next morning, i awoke to the sounds of brian and amal's girls talking and laughing and singing. it was a really great way to wake up (even though it was before 7am).


big aaron was the last to arise.


he awoke just as we started breakfast: coffee, oatmeal, muffins, and chocolate melted on graham crackers.

it was all very tasty and fun. camping equipment has come a long way since i had seen it last.


here's b-ron doing some morning exercises.


and here's vince spinning ayla around. right after this, brian quickly scooped her up and began throwing her waaaay up in the air and catching her.

did i mention that she had just eaten a ton of oatmeal?


well, yeah...after all of that spinning and flying, as brian was holding her above his head, she suddenly threw up all over his face.

it was super hilarious. and pretty gross.

after breakfast, it was time to pack up the camp so that aaron, vince and i could make it to los angeles at a reasonable hour. brian and amal and kids were heading back up to san francisco.


on the way out of the campsite, i saw that our neighbor had his site decorated all cah-razy military style. there was a big american flag hanging from a tree, a sign that said "marine recon camp", and this creepy ass license plate decoration.

spooky...

anyways, we left the campgrounds and decided to try to go to the beach before we split up. we weren't able to find a way down to it, so we just pulled off onto the side of the road and took in the amazing, amazing scenery.

here's brian and i looking at the pacific ocean. about five minutes later, we started to see whales breaching down below us.

it was the greatest thing that i'd seen in a while.


after that, somehow we decided to have a rock throwing competition.
(we were trying to hit that sign across the road)

about three hundred rocks and a sore arm later, it was time to split up and move on...


first we had to pose for pictures.

i hope that it's not another 5 years before all four of us can get together again.


so on we went towards LA. we took the pacific coast highway the whole way.
with the top down of course.
it was the most zig-zaggy, up and down, incredibly beautiful road that i have ever seen.

the trip from big sur to LA took us about another 6 hours. it was slow, but totally worth it.


right before we got into los angeles, we started to play this game that vince invented called "The Ultimate Deceiver". it was pretty funny, though there was no clear winner. well, maybe vince won the most, but it was hardly a landslide victory.

anyways, finally we made it into the city. after a getting stuck on the infamous 405 for an eternity, we found ourselves in culver city, home of clay johnson.

there was a surprise in the form of elliot jackson waiting for us. elliot used to live in LA, but now he lives in philadelphia. he was in town by a magical coincidence.
this made me very happy.


here's our host for the last leg of our trip, the multi-talented, ruggedly handsome clay johnson!